'     COLONEL  JAME^  GREGORY  HODGES, 
HIS  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


ADDRESS  BY 

JUDGE  JAMES  F.  CROCKER 


BEFORE  STONEWALL  CAMP, 
CONFEDERATE  VETERANS, 
PORTSMOUTH,  VIRGINIA. 
JUNE    1 8th,    1909.    :    :    :    :  : 


PORTSMOUTH,  VA.  : 
W.  A.  FISKE'S  PRINTERY  AND  BINDERY. 
1909. 


f 


COLONEL  JAMES  GREGORY  HODGES. 
HIS  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


ADDRESS  BY 

JUDGE  JAMES  F.  CROCKER 


BEFORE  STONEWALL  CAMP, 
CONFEDERATE  VETERANS, 
PORTSMOUTH,  VIRGINIA. 
JUNE   1 8 1  h ,    1909.    :    :    :    :  : 


PORTSMOUTH,  VA.  : 
W.  A.  FISKE'S  PRINTERY  AND  BINDERY. 
1909. 


Colonel  James  Gregory  Hodges. 


a  m 

COLONEL  JAMES  GREGORY  HODGES. 


James  Gregory  Hodges  was  born  in  Portsmouth, 
Va.,  on  the  25th  day  of  December,  1828.  His 
father  was  Gen.  John  Hodges.  Gen.  Hodges  was 
one  of  the  most  noted  citizens  of  Norfolk  county 
for  his  high  character,  intehigence,  wealth,  social 
position  and  for  his  public  services.  For  a  num- 
ber of  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  county  court. 
He  served  in  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia. 
In  the  war  of  1812  he,  as  captain,  commanded  a 
company  attached  to  the  Thirtieth  regiment  of  the 
third  requisition  for  the  State  of  Virginia,  com- 
manded by  Maj.  Dempsey  Veale,  and  mustered  into 
the  service  of  the  United  States  on  the  26th  of 
April,  1813,  at  the  camp  near  Fort  Nelson,  situ- 
ated on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Naval  Hospital 
Point.  This  regiment  was  engaged  in  the  battle 
of  Craney  Island.  He  subsequently  held  the  com- 
mission of  colonel  of  the  Seventh  regiment  of  Vir- 
ginia in  militia  and  later  was  elected  on  joint  ballot 
of  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly  a  briga- 
dier general  of  the  Ninth  brigade  in  the  fourth 
division  of  the  militia  of  the  commonwealth  and 
commissioned  by  Gov.  John  Tyler  on  the  7th  day 
of  January,  1826. 

The  mother  of  James  Gregory  Hodges  was  Jane 
Adelaide  Gregory.  She  was  a  descendant  of  the 
colonial  clergyman,  John  Gregorie,  who  was  rector 
of  Nansemond  county  parish  in  1680.  Her  grand- 
father was  James  Gregory,  who  married  Patience 


4 


Godwin,  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Godwin  and 
Mary  Godwin,  his  wife.  This  Thomas  Godwin  was 
a  descendant  of  Capt.  Thomas  Godwin,  the  original 
settler  and  ancestor  of  the  Godwins  of  Nansemond 
county,  who  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses and  the  presiding  justice  of  the  county  court 
of  Nansemond  county  for  many  years.  James 
Gregory  was  a  vestryman  of  the  upper  parish,  and 
afterwards,  by  a  change  of  the  boundaries  of  the 
parish,  a  vestryman  of  the  Suffolk  parish  of  Nan- 
semond. His  son,  James  Gregory,  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Hodges,  married  Mary  Wynns,  the  daughter 
of  Col.  Benjamin  Wynns,  of  the  revolution,  and 
Margaret  Pugh,  the  daughter  of  Francis  Pugh 
and  Pherebee  Savage. 

James  Gregory  Hodges  was  educated  at  the  once 
famous  Literary,  Scientific  and  Military  Academy 
of  Portsmouth,  of  which  Capt.  Alden  Partridge,  A. 
M.,  of  New  England,  was  superintendent.  His 
associate  professors  were :  William  L.  Lee,  A.  B., 
professor  of  mathematics,  natural  philosophy  and 
civil  engineering;  William  H.  H.  Davis,  A.  B.,  pro- 
fessor of  mathematics,  topographical  drawing,  mili- 
tary instructor  and  teacher  of  fencing;  Lucius  D. 
Pierce,  A.  B.,  professor  of  ancient  languages; 
Moses  Jean  Odend'hal,  professor  of  modern  lan- 
guages, and  H.  Myers,  instructor  of  martial  music. 
To  show  the  high  character  of  this  school,  I  beg 
to  mention  the  names  of  the  gentlemen  who  com- 
posed the  board  of  trustees,  and  who  are  remem- 
bered as  among  the  most  honorable  citizens  of 
Portsmouth:  Gen.  John  Hodges,  president;  Holt 
Wilson,    Dr.    Joseph    Schoolfield,    Capt.  James 


5 


Thompson,  Col.  M.  Cooke,  John  A.  Chandler,  Dr. 
R.  R.  Butt,  Dr.  A.  R.  Smith,  Dr.  William  Collins, 
William  H.  Wilson,  Maj.  Walter  Gwynn.  This 
school  had  a  large  number  of  cadets.  Of  these 
cadets  James  Gregory  Hodges,  of  the  senior  de- 
partment, and  John  Collins  Woodley,  the  brother 
of  the  late  Dr.  Joseph  R.  Woodley,  of  the  junior 
department,  were  by  common  consent  elected  to 
decide  all  disputes  that  arose  among  the  cadets; 
and  such  was  the  cadets'  great  admiration  and  res- 
pect for  their  high  character  and  judgment  that  all 
readily  acquiesced  in  their  decisions. 

He  chose  medicine  as  his  profession  and  gradu- 
ated at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  gained 
great  success  and  eminence  in  his  profession.  Dur- 
ing the  yellow  fever  here  in  1855  he  gave  untiring 
and  faithful  devotion  to  the  sick  day  and  night 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  epidemic. 

He  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city  of  Portsmouth 
April,  1856,  and  again  in  April,  1857. 

The  Third  regiment  of  Virginia  volunteers  of 
this  city  was  organized  in  1856,  and  Dr.  James 
Gregory  Hodges  was  elected  colonel;  David  J. 
Godwin,  lieutenant  colonel :  William  C.  Wingfield, 
major;  John  W.  H.  Wrenn,  adjutant;  C.  W.  Mur- 
daugh,  commissary;  John  Hobday,  quartermaster; 
Dr.  H.  F.  Butt,  surgeon,  and  Dr.  V.  B.  BiHsoly, 
assistant  surgeon.  At  the  time  of  the  organization 
of  the  regiment  it  was  composed  of  the  following 
companies :  Portsmouth  Rifle  Company,  Capt. 
John  C.  Owens ;  Old  Dominion  Guard,  Capt.  Ed- 
ward Kearns;  the  National  Grays,  Capt.  John  E. 
Deans;  the  Marion  Rifles,  Capt.  Johannis  Watson; 


6 


the  Union  Guard,  Capt.  Nathaniel  Edwards,  and 
the  Dismal  Swamp  Rangers,  Capt.  James  C.  Choat. 
On  Saturday,  the  20th  day  of  April,  1861,  when 
the  regiment  was  ordered  by  Gov.  Letcher  into 
the  service  of  the  State,  it  consisted  of  the  same 
companies  except  the  Union  Guard,  which  had 
been  disbanded  the  year  before. 

The  twentieth  of  April,  eighteen  hundred  and 
sixty  one  —  memorable  day!  On  this  day  com- 
menced in  Virginia  an  unproclaimed  war.  The 
ordinance  of  secession  had  been  passed  on  the 
17th  day  of  April,  1861.  The  proclamation  of 
President  Lincoln  calling  on  Virginia  for  her 
quota  of  military  forces  to  wage  war  against  her 
sister  States  of  the  South  brought  all  Virginians 
of  true  loyalty  together.  War  was  the  inevitable 
result  of  national  and  State  action.  Gov.  Letcher 
had  sent  down  Gen.  William  B.  Taliaferro  to  take 
charge  of  the  organized  forces  of  this  section  when 
called  into  the  service  of  the  State.  At  noon  the 
United  States  authorities  closed  the  doors  of  the 
navy  yard  and  began  the  destruction  of  its  build- 
ings, its  ships  and  stores.  It  was  an  act  of  war 
and  was  so  regarded  by  all.  At  2  p.  m.  the  volun- 
teer companies  of  the  city  were  called  into  the 
service  of  the  State.  At  that  hour  the  long  roll 
sounded  summoning  our  local  military  to  arms. 
All  who  survive  remember  the  profound  interest 
and  emotion  of  that  hour.  It  stifled  all  light  feel- 
ings and  gave  to  each  brow  a  thoughtful  aspect, 
and  to  each  eye  a  depth  of  light  which  arises  only 
when  the  heart  is  weighted  with  great  moving 
concern.   Men  pressed  in  silence  each  others  hands 


7 


and  spoke  in  tones  subdued  by  the  solemnity  and 
intensity  of  their  inexpressable  feelings.  All  knew 
that  when  that  long  roll  once  sounded,  it  would 
thrill  the  land,  and  that  it  would  not  cease  to  be 
heard,  day  or  night,  until  silenced  in  victory  or 
defeat.  Our  military  responded  to  the  roll  call 
with  a  unanimity  and  with  a  patriotic  devotion  un- 
surpassed. 

Near  sunset  of  the  20th  of  April  the  Pawnee 
passed  the  foot  of  High  street  on  her  way  to  the 
navy  yard.  I  see  her  now  as  vividly  as  I  did  at 
that  hour.  Her  officers  were  at  their  posts — her 
men  at  their  loaded  guns  and  upwards  of  400  ma- 
rines and  soldiers  at  quarters — all  standing  ready, 
on  the  least  provocation,  to  give  and  to  receive 
the  order  to  fire.  She  moved  with  a  firm  steadi- 
ness and  the  silent  majesty  of  authority.  She 
seemed  a  living  thing — with  a  heart  beating  to 
stirred  emotions  and  sharing  the  hostile  feelings 
and  defiance  of  those  whom  she  bore.  Her  power 
and  readiness  to  do  harm  inspired  a  kind  of  terror 
in  every  breast.  On  her  arrival  at  the  yard  the 
work  of  destruction  received  a  new  impetus.  On 
every  side  were  heard  the  vulcan  sounds  of  destruc- 
tion ;  on  every  side  were  seen  the  flames  of  burning 
buildings  and  blazing  ships.  Our  forces  were  not 
sufficient  to  interfere  and  there  seemed  to  be  a 
mutual  understanding  on  both  sides — the  result  of 
weakness  on  our  side  and  ignorance  on  that  of  the 
enemy — that  the  Pawnee,  with  the  Cumberland  in 
tow,  at  the  end  of  the  destruction  of  the  yard, 
might  leave  without  molestation. 

The  enemy  left  early  in  the  morning  of  the  21st, 


8 


and  Col.  Hodges,  under  the  order  of  Gen.  Taliaferro, 
entered  the  navy  yard  to  take  charge,  to  restore 
order  and  to  protect  what  was  left  and  to  turn  the 
yard  over  to  the  civil  and  naval  officers  of  the 
State.  This  was  done,  and  leaving  one  of  his  com- 
panies in  the  yard  as  a  guard  he  took  the  other 
companies  of  his  regiment  to  the  naval  hospital 
grounds  and  there  threw  up  breastworks  for  pro- 
tection against  any  United  States  vessel  that  should 
attempt  to  re-enter  the  harbor.  It  was  a  Sunday 
morning.  We  all  remember  the  work  of  throwing 
up  the  breastworks.  It  was  done  with  a  will — 
with  patriotic  devotion.  I  did  some  spading  on 
that  work,  citizens  also  helped,  and  the  mothers 
and  daughters  of  our  city  came  down  and  cheered 
us  in  our  work.  All  apprehension  soon  left  us  and 
we  were  exuberantly  cheerful  and  happy.  Troops 
from  every  quarter  came  pouring  into  our  midst. 
Batteries  were  thrown  up  at  every  point  of  defense. 
We  soon  felt  that  the  enemy  could  never  again 
come  into  our  harbor  by  land  or  water  against  our 
will. 

Very  soon  after  matters  had  become  well  ordered 
at  the  naval  hospital  grounds  Gov.  Letcher  ap- 
pointed and  assigned  to  the  Third  regiment,  Vir- 
ginia volunteers,  Col.  Roger  A.  Pryor,  and  his  field 
officers  and  assigned  Col.  James  Gregory  Hodges, 
Lieut.  Col.  David  J.  Godwin  and  Mai.  William 
White  to  the  Fourteenth  Virginia  regiment.  This 
was  done  on  the  alleged  policy  that  it  is  better  for  a 
colonel  to  command  a  regiment  of  strangers  than 
a  regiment  of  his  personal  friends.  Maj.  William 
C.  Wingfield  and  the  other  staff  officers  of  the  old 


9 


Third  Virginia  regiment  resigned  and  afterwards 
did  distinguished  services  under  other  commands. 

Col.  Hodges  with  his  regiment  was  ordered  to 
take  command  of  Jamestown  Island,  and  we  find 
that  on  the  31st  day  of  May,  1861,  he  was  there  in 
command  not  only  of  his  own  regiment  of  ten  com- 
panies but  also  of  five  companies  of  artillery  and 
two  additional  companies  of  infantry.  His  adju- 
tant at  this  time  was  Lieut.  Evans. 

This  assignment  of  Col.  Hodges  to  the  Four- 
teenth Virginia  regiment  and  to  the  command  of 
Jamestown  Island  took  him  from  his  home — from 
the  companionship  of  his  wife  and  two  infant  boys. 
On  the  nth  day  of  August,  1853,  he  married 
Sarah  A.  F.  Wilson,  the  daughter  of  William  H. 
Wilson  and  Ellen  Keeling.  His  son,  William  Wil- 
son Hodges,  was  born  on  the  29th  of  April,  1854, 
and  his  son,  John  Nelson  Hodges,  was  born  on  the 
3rd  of  May,  when  he  was  in  command  at  the  Naval 
Hospital  grounds,  and  he  gave  to  his  little  baby 
son  the  name  of  Nelson,  after  Fort  Nelson,  erected 
on  those  grounds  in  the  revolution.  To  him  and 
to  his  wife  it  was  a  most  painful  separation,  yet 
bravely  and  cheerfully  borne  in  the  spirit  of  pa- 
triotic duty  to  their  country.  His  letters  to  his 
wife  were  ever  full  of  the  most  devoted  love  to  her 
and  of  the  keenest,  tenderest  interest  in  his  two 
infant  children,  whom  he  calls  so  dearly  "my  boys." 
There  was  an  ever  intense  longing  to  be  with  his 
wife  and  children  and  always  the  firm  recognition 
of  his  duty  to  be  ever  with  his  regiment. 

On  August  I,  1861,  Gen.  Magruder  ordered  Col. 
Hodges  to  take  six  companies  of  his  regiment  and 


lO 


to  join  him  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Peninsula. 
Gen.  Magruder  with  5,000  men,  made  a  demonstra- 
tion of  a  regular  line  of  battle  before  Newport 
News  with  the  purpose  of  drawing  out  the  enemy 
at  that  place,  but  the  enemy  failed  to  appear.  He 
afterwards  made  a  like  demonstration  near  Hamp- 
ton to  draw  the  enemy  from  Old  Point  to  make  an 
attack,  but  the  enemy  failed  to  appear.  On  the 
7th  of  August  Gen.  Magruder  ordered  Col.  Hodges 
to  report  to  him  at  Newmarket  bridge.  Col. 
Hodges  reached  there  about  9  o'clock  p.  m.  when 
Gen.  Magruder  ordered  to  his  command  two  other 
infantry  companies  and  two  companies  of  cavalry, 
and  directed  him  to  proceed  to  Hampton  and  de- 
stroy the  town.  He  reached  Hampton  about  11 
p.  m.  He  found  every  thing  as  still  as  death,  and 
not  a  sound  to  be  heard  excepting  the  sound  of 
the  horses  feet  and  occasionally  the  clanking  of 
a  sabre.  He  marched  his  men  into  St.  John's 
Church  yard,  dismounted  his  cavalry  and  sent  a 
picket  guard  to  the  bridge  leading  to  Old  Point. 
Here  the  enemy's  picket  guard  opened  fire,  and 
for  some  time  there  was  an  active  firing,  but  no 
serious  harm  was  done  and  the  enemy  withdrew. 
Then  the  work  of  destroying  the  town  commenced. 
Col.  Hodges,  in  his  account  of  the  expedition  to  his 
wife,  says : 

"It  grieved  me  sorely  to  have  to  destroy  the 
town;  but  I  believe  it  is  all  for  the  best,  as  it  em- 
barasses  the  enemy  very  much  and  takes  from  them 
elegant  winter  quarters  whilst  our  troops  will  have 
to  suffer  in  log  huts  and  tents.  I  went  into  many 
houses  which  formerly  had  been  well  taken  care  of; 


II 


the  furniture  was  broken  to  pieces  and  scattered  all 
through  the  houses.  They  were  filled  with  filth 
of  every  description,  and  most  obscene  expressions 
written  all  over  the  walls.  If  I  had  lived  and  owned 
a  house  there  I  would  willingly  have  applied  the 
torch  to  it  rather  than  have  had  it  desecrated  in 
the  way  the  whole  town  had  been." 

The  regiment  was  afterwards  stationed  for  a 
while  at  Mulberry  Island,  and  also  at  Lands  End. 
In  May,  1862,  it  was  ordered  to  Suffolk  and  was 
there  made  a  part  of  Armistead's  brigade.  On 
the  reorganization  of  regiments  in  the  spring  of 
1862  Adjutant  Evans  was  made  Lieutenant  Colonel 
and  C.  W.  Finley  was  made  Adjutant  of  the  Four- 
teenth Virginia  regiment;  and  Lieutenant  Colonel 
David  J.  Godwin  was  made  Colonel  of  the  Ninth 
Virginia  regiment.  The  brigade  now  marched  to 
Petersburg,  where  the  Ninth  Virginia  was  made  a 
part  of  it.  It  then  moved  to  Richmond  and  then 
to  a  camp  on  the  Williamsburg  road  below  Rich- 
mond. It  was  at  Seven  Pines,  but  only  slightly 
engaged  on  the  second  day  of  the  battle.  The 
brigade  was  at  Malvern  Hill  and  engaged  in  that 
memorable  charge.  Col.  Hodges  thus  speaks  of 
it: 

"The  battle  of  Tuesday,  July  i,  was  the  most 
terrific  that  can  be  conceived  of.  My  imagination 
never  pictured  anything  to  equal  it.  I  lost  in  killed 
and  wounded  on  that  day  about  one-fourth  of  my 
regiment.  They  all  acted  nobly.  Men  never  fought 
better.  The  battle  flag  of  the  regiment  which  we 
carried  into  the  fight  has  forty-seven  shot  holes 
in  it;  and  every  man  in  my  color  guard  wounded. 


12 


During  a  charge  a  shell  burst  near  me,  killing  two 
of  my  men,  wounding  Capt.  Bruce  so  severely  that 
he  only  survived  twenty-four  hours,  wounded  sev- 
eral others,  knocked  me  down  and  burnt  all  the 
beard  off  the  right  side  of  my  face,  scorched  the 
sleeve  of  my  coat  from  my  hand  up.  The  shock 
was  so  great  that  I  did  not  recover  from  it  for  sev- 
eral hours." 

From  this  description  you  can  form  some  idea  of 
that  terrible  battle  in  which  our  forces  attempted 
to  dislodge  the  enemy  from  the  crown  of  Malvern 
Hill,  defended  by  fifty  pieces  of  artillery  and  com- 
pact lines  of  infantry,  raking  an  open  field  for  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile.  Brave  men  of  this  city,  of  my 
own  regiment,  the  Ninth  Virginia,  poured  out  on 
that  battle  field  that  rich  blood  which  even  at  this 
late  day  brings  sorrow  to  hearts  still  beating. 

The  Fourteenth  regiment  remained  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Shirley  until  Gen.  McClellan  em- 
barked his  forces  and  left  for  Washington.  It  then 
went  to  Hanover  Junction,  then  through  Louisa 
county  and  on  to  join  Lee's  army,  which  it  did  on 
the  upper  Rappahannock.  It  was  at  Second 
Manassas  and  was  in  the  Maryland  campaign. 

The  battle  of  Sharpsburg  was  fought  on  Wed- 
nesday, the  17th  of  September,  1862,  from  3  a.  m. 
to  night.  The  two  armies  held  their  respective 
positions  all  the  next  day  without  firing  a  gun. 
Lee  crossed  the  Potomac  into  Virginia  early  on 
the  morning  of  the  19th.  Col.  Hodges  writing  on 
the  22nd  of  September,  1862,  in  Berkley  county, 
near  Martinsburg,  says  that  General  Armistead 


13 


was  wounded  early  on  the  morning  of  the  17th 
and  that  he  took  command  of  the  brigade  and  that 
he  was  still  in  command,  but  expected  Gen.  Arm- 
istead  to  be  able  to  return  to  duty  in  a  few  days. 
Gen.  Early  in  his  official  report  of  the  battle  says : 
.''Shortly  after  the  repulse  of  the  enemy  Col. 
Hodges,  in  command  of  Armistead's  brigade,  re- 
ported to  me,  and  I  placed  it  in  line  in  the  position 
occupied  by  my  brigade  and  placed  the  latter  in 
line  on  the  edge  of  the  plateau  which  has  been 
mentioned  and  parallel  to  the  Hagerstown  road 
but  under  cover."  This  battle  was  the  most  de- 
structive battle  of  the  war  for  the  time  engaged. 

In  his  letter  last  mentioned  Col.  Hodges  says: 
"We  have  had  a  very  hard  time  since  we  left  Rich- 
mond. I  have  not  slept  in  a  tent  since  leaving  there 
and  have  only  been  in  three  houses.  We  eat  what- 
ever we  can  get  and  sometimes  the  quality  is  any- 
thing but  good  and  the  supply  scanty.  This  army 
has  accomplished  wonders  and  undergone  the 
greatest  amount  of  fatigue," 

On  the  15th  of  October,  1862,  Armistead's  brigade 
was  encamped  near  Winchester,  Va.  On  that  day 
Col.  Hodges  writes:  ''On  Monday  last  we  had  a 
grand  review  of  our  division,  by  Gen.  Longstreet, 
who  commands  our  corps  d'armie.  There  were 
two  members  of  the  British  Parliament  present. 
We  had  about  ten  thousand  men  in  line,  and  the 
whole  passed  off  very  well.  It  was  quite  an  im- 
posing sight.  I  suppose  the  Englishmen  did  not 
know  what  to  make  of  such  a  dirty,  ragged  set  of 
fellows.  The  orders  forbade  the  barefooted  men 
from  going  out.    I  think  they  ought  to  have  let  our 


14 


army  be  seen  just  as  it  is.  I  have  now  some  eighty 
men  without  shoes,  notwithstanding  that  I  have 
within  the  past  ten  days  issued  to  my  regiment 
one  hundred  pairs." 

Burnside  had  superseded  Gen.  McClellan  in  the 
command  of  the  Union  army,  and  was  now  moving 
towards  Fredericksburg.  When  this  intention 
manifested  itself,  our  forces  concentrated  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Culpeper  Courthouse.  Our 
brigade  was  ordered  thitherward.  I  remember  the 
first  day's  long,  severe  march.  The  first  day's 
march  is  always  trying  to  soldiers  who  have  been 
in  camp  for  weeks.  Speaking  of  the  shoeless  con- 
dition of  the  army,  I  remember  an  incident  that 
occurred  under  my  very  eyes.  I  beg  to  mention 
it.  Moses  Young,  a  member  of  my  regiment  from 
this  city,  as  he  marched  along  the  road,  saw  a  dis- 
carded old  pair  of  shoes.  He  stopped  and  looked  at 
them  and  then  at  his  own  shoes.  He  took  them 
up,  turned  them  over,  and  then  looked  again  at 
the  old  shoes  he  had  on.  It  was  evidently  with 
him  a  close  question  as  to  which  pair  had  the  ad- 
vantage. He  finally  shook  off  his  old  shoes  and 
put  on  the  pair  which  a  preceding  comrade  had 
discarded  as  worthless.  The  wearer  of  these  old 
shoes  was  a  patriotic  and  gallant  soldier. 

When  our  brigade  arrived  at  Culpeper  Court- 
house, it  was  in  Gen.  Anderson's  division.  It  was 
here  on  November  7,  1862,  that  Armistead's 
brigade  was  placed  in  the  new  formed  division  of 
Gen.  Pickett  and  all  the  Virginia  regiments  in  An- 
derson's division  were  taken  from  it  and  Southern 
regiments  substituted  in  their  place.    It  was  here 


15 

that  John  S.  Jenkins,  of  this  city,  on  the  17th  of 
November,  1862,  entered  on  his  duties  as  adjutant 
of  the  Fourteenth  Virginia,  appointed  in  the  place 
of  Adjutant  G.  W.  Finley,  who  resigned  to  go 
home  to  attend  to  the  affairs  of  his  father,  who 
had  recently  died.  He  subsequently  joined  Gar- 
nett's  brigade  and  was  at  Gettysburg  and  there 
captured.  He  afterwards  became  a  distinguished 
Presbyterian  minister  and  held  the  title  of  D.  D. 
On  the  2ist  of  November,  1862,  Armistead's 
brigade  left  Culpeper  Courthouse,  and  reached 
camp  near  Fredericksburg  on  the  23rd.  The 
brigade  was  in  line  of  battle  on  the  13th  of  De- 
cember, 1862,  when  Burnside  crossed  the  Rappa- 
hannock and  attacked  our  forces,  but  it  was  not 
actively  engaged.  It  wintered  at  Guinea  Station  on 
the  Richmond  and  Fredericksburg  road.  In  the 
spring  it  was  ordered  to  Suffolk,  from  there  it  was 
ordered  to  join  Lee's  army,  then  ready  to  com- 
mence its  march  into  Pennsylvania. 

Col.  Hodges,  writing  on  the  9th  of  June,  1863, 
from  Spottsylvania  county,  says:  ''We  left  Han- 
over Junction  yesterday  morning  and  have  pro- 
ceeded forty  miles  on  our  way  to  join  Gen.  Lee, 
either  in  Culpeper  county  or  beyond  if  he  has 
crossed  the  upper  Rappahannock.  We  have  now 
been  marching  every  day  for  a  week,  averaging  a 
full  day's  march  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  miles 
every  day.  My  men  are  in  excellent  condition,  and 
I  know  will  perform  their  whole  duty  should  they 
be  required  to  meet  the  enemy.  So  you  may  ex- 
pect to  hear  a  grand  account  of  the  regiment;  and 
I  am  proud  to  say  that  it  has  always  done  well,  and 


i6 

in  some  instances  far  excelled  those  they  were 
thrown  with." 

Pickett's  division  pushed  hurriedly  on  to  catch 
up  with  Lee's  advancing  army.  The  division  was 
at  Chambersburg  on  the  ist  day  of  July  engaged 
in  ordinary  camp  drill,  while  Lee's  advanced  forces 
were  engaged  in  severe  battle  at  Gettysburg.  It 
left  the  next  morning  for  Gettysburg,  and  arrived 
in  the  afternoon  at  a  camping  ground  between 
Cashtown  and  Gettysburg.  Only  three  brigades  of 
the  division  were  present,  Kemper's,  Garnett's  and 
Armistead's.  The  field  officers  of  the  Fourteenth 
Virginia  were,  at  this  time.  Col.  James  Gregory 
Hodges,  Lieut.  Col.  William  White,  Major  Robert 
Poore,  and  Adjutant  John  S.  Jenkins.  Early  on  the 
morning  of  July  3  these  brigades  were  taken  to  the 
battle  line.  I  will  not  undertake  here  to  describe 
Pickett's  charge.  This  was  done  in  an  address  de- 
livered before  this  camp  on  November  7,  1894,  pub- 
lished in  the  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers, 
vol.  33,  p.  118. 

The  charge  of  Pickett's  division,  made  up  entire- 
ly of  Virginians,  is  recognized  the  world  over  as 
unsurpassed  in  all  the  annals  of  history  for  steadi- 
ness of  march,  unwavering  courage,  and  for  the 
patriotic,  calm  determination  to  do  all  that  was 
possible  to  be  done  to  win  victory  at  any  sacrifice 
of  life.  All  know  the  awful  fatality  among  the 
ofi^icers  and  men  of  the  division.  Of  its  generals, 
Garnett  was  killed,  Armistead  fatally  wounded,  and 
Kemper  desperately  wounded.  Of  its  colonels  of 
regiments  six  were  killed  outright  on  the  field: 


17 


Hodges,  Edmonds,  Magruder,  Williams,  Patton. 
Allen,  and  Owens  and  Stuart  were  mortally 
wounded.  Three  lieutenant  colonels  were  killed: 
Calcott,  Wade  and  Ellis.  Five  colonels.  Hunton. 
Terry,  Garnett,  ]\Iayo  and  Aylett  were  wounded, 
and  four  lieutenant  colonels,  commanding  regi- 
ments, Carrington,  Otey.  Richardson  and  Martin, 
were  wounded.  Of  the  whole  complement  of  field 
officers  in  fifteen  regiments  one  only,  Lieut.  Col. 
Joseph  C.  Cabell,  escaped  unhurt.  Of  the  field  offi- 
cers of  the  Fourteenth  \^irginia.  Col.  Hodges,  Maj. 
Poore  and  Adjutant  John  S.  Jenkins  were  killed.' 
and  Lieut.  Col.  ^Mlliam  White  was  wounded. 

Col.  Hodges  led  his  regiment  in  this  memorable 
charge  with  conspicuous  courage  and  gallantry. 
He  was  an  able  and  experienced  officer.  His  devo- 
tion to  his  official  duties  was  never  surpassed.  His 
regiment  was  never  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy 
without  his  being  there  in  command.  His  officers 
and  men  were  devoted  to  him.  He  fully  enjoyed 
their  admiration,  esteem  and  confidence.  Many 
letters  to  him  in  life  and  after  his  death  to  his 
widow,  convey  unqualified  appreciation  of  him  as  a 
man  and  a  commander.  His  family  made  every 
effort  to  ascertain  where  his  body  was  buried,  but 
all  in  vain.  He  sleeps  in  the  trenches  with  those 
who  made  that  charge  of  Pickett's  division  im- 
mortal. He  was  the  idol  of  his  family,  admired 
and  loved  by  them  with  an  affection  and  devotion 
which  words  fail  to  convey.  For  their  sake  and 
for  the  sake  of  those  survivors  here  who  knew  him. 
I  make  as  a  part  of  this  address  a  touching  incident 
of  the  reunion  of  the  association  of  Pickett's  divi- 


i8 

sion  at  Gettysburg  on  the  3rd  of  July,  1887,  as 
published  at  the  time  in  the  Landmark: 

Adjutant  J.  F.  Crocker,  of  the  Ninth  Virginia,  in 
the  course  of  his  remarks,  in  receiving  from  Col. 
Andrew  Cowan,  of  Cowan's  Battery,  the  sword  of 
the  young  unknown  Confederate  officer  who  fell 
within  a  few  feet  of  the  guns  of  the  battery,  while 
giving  the  order :  ''Men !  take  these  guns,"  alluded 
to  the  sad  memories  awakened  by  the  scenes  of  the 
day.  In  this  connection,  and  as  illustrative  of 
them,  he  had  come  to  the  battlefield  of  Gettysburg 
bearing  a  sacred  request  from  the  invalid  widow 
of  a  gallant  Confederate  officer  who  was  killed  in 
the  charge  of  Pickett's  division,  asking  him  to 
make  a  prayer  at  the  spot  where  her  dear  husband 
fell  for  his  long  sorrowing  widow  and  orphan  sons, 
with  the  hope  that  God,  in  some  way,  would  bless 
the  prayer  to  their  good.  That  gallant  officer  was 
Col.  James  Gregory  Hodges,  of  the  Fourteenth 
Virginia  regiment,  the  brother  of  the  speaker's 
wife.  He  stated  that  early  and  careful  but  unavail- 
ing efforts  had  been  made  to  find  the  place  of  his 
burial  and  he  now  desired  to  find  and  have  identi- 
fied the  spot  where  he  fell.  The  simple  story 
brought  tears  to  many  who  stood  around.  When 
the  speaker  closed  his  address.  General  H.  J.  Hunt, 
chief  of  artillery  of  the  Union  army,  in  whom  kind- 
ness and  courage  are  equal  virtues,  came  promptly 
forward  and  gave  his  hand  warmly  to  Adjutant 
Crocker  and  in  sympathetic  tones  said,  "I  can  tell 
you  something  of  Colonel  Hodges,  of  the  Four- 
teenth Virginia;  I  can  carry  you  to  the  very  spot 
where  he  fell."  The- general  said  that  immediately 


19 


after  the  battle,  hearing  that  General  Garnett, 
whom  he  knew  in  the  old  army,  had  been  killed, 
he  went  out  to  look  for  him  and  when  he  came  to 
the  stone  wall  a  long  line  of  Confederate  dead  and 
wounded,  lying  along  the  wall,  met  his  view,  but 
his  attention  was  arrested  by  the  manly  and  hand- 
some form  of  an  officer  lying  dead  on  his  back 
across  other  dead.  He  thought  he  had  seen  the 
face  before,  and  on  inquiry  was  told  that  it  was 
Col.  Hodges  of  the  Fourteenth  Virginia,  whom  he 
remembered  to  have  seen  in  social  circles  before 
the  war.  The  spot  where  Col.  Hodges  fell  was 
identified  by  General  Hunt  and  others,  and  is  at 
the  stone  wall  near  the  monument  of  the  Sixty- 
ninth  Pennsylvania.  With  General  Hunt  and  other 
Union  officers  and  men  standing  around,  uncov- 
ered, a  brief  prayer  was  made  that  God  would  re- 
member and  bless  the  widow  and  sons  of  the  brave 
officer  who  fell  at  this  spot,  but  now  rests  in  an 
unknown  grave.  It  was  a  sad,  solemn  scene,  full 
of  touching  pathos.  The  sun  was  sinking  beyond 
Seminary  Ridge,  with  its  slanting  rays  mellowing 
the  sheen  of  the  grain  waving  fields,  while  here 
and  there  were  groups  of  Union  and  Confederate 
veterans,  mingling  in  peaceful,  heartfelt  and  fra- 
ternal accord. 

There  is  another  incident,  which  I  must  here 
relate. 

In  October,  1903,  Senator  John  W.  Daniel,  who 
knew  my  relation  to  Colonel  Hodges  and  that  he 
was  killed  in  Pickett's  charge,  was  in  the  National 
Library  at  Washington,  engaged  in  getting  official 
information  for  a  future  paper  on  "The  Virginians 


20 


at  Gettysburg,"  and  seeing  in  the  library  a  man 
whose  appearance  attracted  him,  he  said  to  him- 
self— that  man  is  a  Northern  man  and  was  an  offi- 
cer in  the  war  and  I  will  speak  to  him;  and  he  ap- 
proached him.  His  conjecture  was  right.  It  was 
Capt.  John  D.  S.  Cook,  of  the  Eightieth  New  York 
regiment  of  volunteers,  known,  however,  in  the 
service  as  the  Twentieth  New  York  State 
Militia.  He  informed  Senator  Daniel  that  Col. 
Hodges  fell  at  the  stone  fence,  within  less  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  of  the  Federal  line, 
directly  in  front  of  the  said  New  York  regi- 
ment ;  that  after  the  struggle  was  ended  his 
body  was  discovered  and  identified  as  Col. 
James  Gregory  Hodges,  of  the  Fourteenth 
Virginia  regiment,  by  some  papers  found  upon  it. 
His  sword  and  scabbard  had  been  destroyed  by  a 
shot,  but  a  soldier  detached  his  sword  belt  and 
handed  it  to  him  and  that  he  had  kept  it  as  a  treas- 
ured relic  of  the  battle  to  be  an  heirloom  in  his 
family.  He  stated  to  Senator  Daniel  that  if  any 
of  the  family  of  Col.  Hodges  still  survived  he  would 
gladly  send  it  to  them.  Senator  Daniel  at  once 
wrote  me,  giving  me  an  account  of  this  interview 
with  Capt.  Cook  and  his  address  at  Kansas  City, 
Mo.  I  wrote  him,  informing  him  that  Mrs.  Sarah 
A.  F.  Hodges,  the  widow  of  Col.  Hodges,  was  liv- 
ing and  that  she  would  ever  appreciate  his  kind 
ofiFer.  Capt.  Cook  sent  at  once  to  her  the  sword 
belt  with  a  letter  of  noble  sentiments  and  sym- 
pathy. This  sword  belt  is  the  same  that  Col. 
Hodges  wore  when  his  picture  was  taken,  which 
now  hangs  in  Mrs.  Hodges'  room.    The  noble  act 


21 


of  Capt.  Cook  is  tenderly  appreciated  by  every 
member  of  the  family.  A  correspondence  with 
Capt.  Cook  has  given  me  a  high  estimate  of  his 
character  and  ability.  He  moved  from  Xew  York 
to  Kansas  City  at  the  close  of  the  war,  where  he 
has  practiced  law  with  eminent  success  and  dis- 
tinction. 

'  Col.  Hodges  was  handsome  and  manly  in  ap- 
pearance. He  had  dark  hair,  bright  dark  eyes,  and 
a  highly  intellectual  face.  He  was  gentle  in  man- 
ners, and  he  ever  bore  himself  with  kindness  to 
others.  He  had  a  generous  and  noble  nature,  and 
he  enjoyed,  in  a  high  degree,  the  esteem  and  con- 
fidence of  the  community.  His  leading  character- 
istic to  the  public  was  his  high  sense  of  duty  and 
his  strict  observance  of  it.  He  illustrated  this  in 
his  conduct  as  colonel  of  his  regiment.  Under 
trying  temptations,  which  involved  the  tenderest 
feelings  of  his  heart,  he  still  held  that  to  be  with 
his  regiment  was  his  supreme  duty — a  duty  which 
he  recognized  as  due  to  his  position  and  to  his 
country.  He  was  ardently  patriotic  and  his  whole 
being,  convictions  and  feelings  were  with  the  Con- 
federate cause. 

But  the  fairest,  sweetest  phase  of  his  character 
was  found  in  his  domestic  life.  No  one  can  read 
those  letters  he  wrote  in  every  camp,  on  everv^ 
march,  before  and  after  every  battle — written  to  a 
tender  loving  wife  whom  he  idolized  and  about  his 
darling  little  boys,  without  realizing  that  all  his 
highest  happiness  and  interest  centered  in  these 
loved  ones.  His  son,  John  Nelson  Hodges,  died  on 
the  2 1  St  day  of  July,  1890,  and  his  son,  William 


22 


Wilson  Hodges,  died  on  the  26th  day  of  April, 
1893,  unmarried — thus  leaving  their  widowed 
mother  now  childless — an  added  grief,  which,  like 
that  other,  is  ever  present  in  the  heart,  but  bravely 
borne  with  that  resignation  which  comes  from  the 
sanctifying  faith  that  God  does  all  things  well. 

Again  I  commend  to  the  keeping  of  Heaven,  as 
I  did  on  the  battlefield  of  Gettysburg  that  saintly 
wife  and  mother,  whose  sorrows  and  piety  have 
made  her  a  priestess,  and  her  room  to  all  who  know 
her  well,  a  sanctuary  of  God. 


